Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Paper that talks to you

Pic: The billboard contains a paper layer with embedded electronics

Designed by Paper Four, this paper will play back a pre-recorded message when someone touches it.

How does it work? "The key to the billboard's capabilities is a layer of digital paper that is embedded with electronics.This is printed with conductive inks, which, when applied with pressure, relay information to a micro-computer that contains recorded audio files. Sound then streams out from printed speakers, which are formed from more layers of conductive inks that sit over an empty cavity to form a diaphragm.This functional layer is sandwiched between a thick sheet of extra-strong cardboard and another sheet of paper that is printed with the billboard's design. "

The BBC article describes a variety of uses for this, from spoken warnings on packs of cigarettes to marketing displays for storefronts.

The possibilities are endless! This could be a great way to advertise to the blind, or embed catchy tunes into term papers, or, for the paranoid, a great way to pass germs around so that your whole class of gradeschoolers can all have chicken pox at the same time. :-)But really, if they can get this small enough to use in every day paper products, our world could get a lot more noisy, but not necessarily in a bad way.